Griffin

There are a bunch of universal remote control apps and hardware on the market for your Apple iOS device today. The latest such device comes by way of Griffin Technology and Dijit and is called the Beacon Universal Remote Control System. The device is a hardware and app combo that promises to deliver full control of your home entertainment system using your iOS device. This system will work with your iPod touch, iPad, or iPhone.

It may look like the buzzer for some brilliant TV game show, but this is actually Griffin Technology's Beacon, another option for turning your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into a universal remote control. As we've seen from other companies, Beacon hooks up to your iOS device via Bluetooth, and then squirts our IR commands sent from the custom Griffin app.

As far as watches go, there's usually just one main design element: it wraps around your wrist, gets secured in some fashion or another, and then you go about your day. But, way back in the day, there was this crazy thing called slap bracelets. No, they weren't watches, but they were cool in their own right. So, why not put the two things together? In fact, why don't we take this growing trend of making an iPod Nano into a watch, and combine it with a Slap bracelet? Someone at Griffin asked that very same question, and luckily enough, they've got the means to actually make it happen.

If you are really into cooking, you may use your iPad for getting recipes or for watching video or listing to music while you cook. The only bad part about that is that it's not ideal to just sit the iPad on the counter where you can knock it off, spill on it, and have to look down to see what is on the screen.

My kids really like to play with my iPhone and the iPod touch we have laying around here. The thing I always worry about is that they will drop the iPhone and crack the screen. Even if I have a case on my iPhone my I know if you drop it just right with the case on the screen will crack.

Our pals at the FCC are the source of numerous little tips about new products coming to market ahead of an official launch. The latest such product to surface is from Griffin and is a dock for the iPhone that lets as many as four people play a game on the smartphone at once.

Apple are offering a choice of difference iPhone 4 cases as part of their free program to address the so-called Antennagate issue, with a new app that's fresh to the App Store designed to help you order your favorite. If you're asking what's the difference between the various options then you've come to the right place: check out our roundup of the seven different cases after the cut.

It's the middle of the week again, and here we are with another edition of the Daily Slash. Tonight's is packed full with interesting pieces of information, that we're sure will fill your heart with delight. First up, in the Best of R3, we've got some more tablet news that's not related to Apple, an iPad case review, and some more rumors about the Hero's update to Android 2.1. And then in the Dredge 'Net, we've got Clearwire promising some very interesting things, space tourism for the (rich) every man, and AT&T thinks it doesn't have dropped calls.

It didn't take long for accessory manufacturers to jump on the Apple iPad bandwagon, and Griffin is one of the first we've seen. While the tablet itself won't ship for another couple of months, they're already promoting a range of cases and screen protectors.

Griffin's PowerMate USB controller may be a few years old, but it still manages to pull in buyers. Anyone not willing to spend $45 on a glorified volume knob, though, might find something to occupy them in MAKE's weekend project, the Powerfake.